Whereas I, Lucinda Nims, of Deerfield, in the county
of Franklin, & Commonwealth of Massachusetts, hold certain
real estate in said Deerfield in common and undivided with
Edwin Nims, of said Deerfield, and it has been agreed and
covenanted between us, that, in the event of the decease of
either of us, the survivor shall have the use and occupation
of the whole of said estate during the natural life of said
survivor, and the said Edwin, in pursuance of said agreement,
has this day made and executed a lease of his portion of said
estate to me, the said Lucinda, during the term of my natural
life, if I should survive him: Now Know all men by these
presents, that I, the said Lucinda, in consideration of the
premises, do hereby devise, lease and let to the said Edwin, my
undivided half of the following described real estate situated
in Deerfield aforesaid; viz. The homestead in Deerfield, That,
containing three acres, more or less, with the buildings thereon,
bounded North by the homesteads of Pliny Arms & Consider Dickinson,
on the East by "Woodchuck Hill," so called, on the South by the
highway & lands of Enos Wells, Rodney Gunn, Deerfield Academy,
& the Third Congregational Parish in Deerfield, & on the West by
Deerfield Street: Also a tract of land in the North Meadows, con-
taining four & three fourths acres more or less, bounded North by
land of Asa Stebbins; East & South by the highway, & on the West
by Land of Seth Sheldon; Also a tract in "Great Bottoms," so called,
containing about twelve acres, bounded North by land lately of
Zenas Hawks, East by the highway, South by lands of Ebenezer H.
Ames, & West by Deerfield River: Also a tract in "Little Meadow,"

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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At his death in 1831, Seth Nims' eldest daughter Lucinda (b.1784) inherited her father's property. The instructions were that she would hold the property "so long as she shall remain unmarried." It was rare for women, married or single, to own real estate in the years before the Civil War. In 1844, after the death of her mother, Lucinda leased one-half of the property, described in this document, to her brother Edwin (1791-1852), retaining for herself a life lease in the homestead.

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